Introduction
The following account is drawn from the Broadway Platea (1850–1857), Fr. Salvian Nardocci's journal (Mt. Argus Archives), Preachers of the Passion by Fr. Herbert Greenan (Highgate Archives), The Foundation of the Passionists in England by Conrad Charles (Highgate Archives), and notes compiled by Fr. Richard Appleyard. It was published in In Diebus Illis Nos. 2 and 3 (1 July and 1 August 1977). Quotations are given verbatim; sources are indicated in parentheses (BP = Broadway Platea; SN = Salvian Nardocci journal).
Fr. Bernard O'Loughlin (1823–1894)
John O'Loughlin was born in Tunstall, Staffordshire, of Irish parents on 18th September 1823. At the age of 22 he was received into the novitiate at Aston Hall by Blessed Dominic, and was the first English-born Passionist to persevere in the Congregation. He was clothed as a cleric on 18th April 1845.
His novitiate was not without difficulty. Two of the professed community came to dislike him and, persuading Blessed Dominic to call a chapter, had him reduced from the status of cleric to that of lay brother. When told of this decision, the Broadway Platea records his reply:
"The poor young man humbly replied that he was most willing to be as they decided, provided he was left in the Congregation."
So satisfactory was Bro. Bernard as a novice that the same two fathers who had opposed him asked Blessed Dominic to reinstate him as a cleric. This was done and his novitiate began again on 1st May 1845. He was ordained on 22nd September 1849. After a period at Aston Hall and a brief time at The Hyde, he was moved to Broadway on 30th January 1851, where for the next twelve years he exercised what the IDI account calls "a remarkable and fruitful apostolate."
Source: In Diebus Illis No. 2 (1 July 1977)
Parish Work at Broadway
Fr. Bernard's first sermon at Broadway made an immediate impression: "the audience was struck with amazement at his preaching. It caused great commotion and the people said that they had never heard such a sermon in their lives." (BP)
Soon after his arrival he made a house-to-house visitation. The Broadway Platea gives a vivid account of his approach:
"Fr. Bernard went to Fr. Lewis (then the Vicar) and asked permission to go into the village in his religious habit. He at first refused, fearing lest some harm might befal him; but Fr. Bernard persisted in his request which was accordingly granted. When outside he knew not at first what to do or where to go. He took it into his head, however, to go from house to house to find out the Catholics.
He had not proceeded far when he found himself surrounded by a crowd of children. To these he addressed himself very kindly and commanded them to form into troops, which they did with great expedition but with still greater pleasure. Thus did Fr. Bernard parade the streets; the boys and girls in number increasing as he proceeded. After he had walked about the village for some length of time he conducted his regiments to the monastery gates and then he invited them in."
On 13th March 1851 Fr. Bernard was made Vicar at Broadway and formally appointed to look after the parish. Every Sunday, Wednesday and Friday evening from the end of 1851 until 1856 he gave catechetical instructions to the people in the School. The Broadway Platea describes the character of these sessions:
"These instructions were very amusing indeed; the truth is he purposely made them so in order to render them enticing as well as instructive, to the attenders. Sometimes he gave them lectures, sometimes read to them a little story, and sometimes explained difficulties suggested. In the beginning for a few times he took Brother John (Walsh) with him who acted as a protestant minister. Fr. Bernard responded to his enquiries and answered his objections as though Bro. John really was a parson. This of course pleased the people very much… The people were like so many children round a parent, and Fr. Bernard seated in the very midst of them looked for all the world like the Patris (sic) familias teaching the domestic circle."
The Platea concludes: "The instructions given by Fr. Bernard in the school were always well attended; indeed sometimes the place was crowded to excess, and very many protestants were received into the Church." (BP)
In 1858, over the course of eight years as parish priest, Fr. Bernard received 121 converts at Broadway. Fr. Salvian Nardocci notes: "His converts are not like those called bread-and-butter converts, but true converts from conviction and not for any temporal motive." (SN) Archbishop Ullathorne remarked on his visits to Broadway that "he had found in his extensive diocese few congregations which had such steady (i.e. persevering) converts as those of Broadway." (SN)
The Archconfraternity of the Immaculate Heart of Mary
Another of Fr. Bernard's achievements was the establishment of the Archconfraternity of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in October 1853. Permission had been granted by the Bishop as early as February 1853, but Fr. Bernard delayed implementation for several months to ensure his congregation was sufficiently instructed. The Broadway Platea records his reasons:
"So every Sunday regularly for five or six months he explained the Confraternity to the people and read the letters concerning the wonders of the same." (BP)
Fr. Bernard himself recorded the fruits of the Confraternity's prayers:
"Many were prayed for who had not humanly speaking courage to follow up their convictions regarding the Catholic faith. Our prayers were heard and they fearlessly laid aside all human respect and many of them bravely faced poverty and reproach for the sake of Religion.
The sick have benefited much by the prayers of the Archconfraternity. In several instances when medical aid failed the prayers of the members were available."
The effect of Fr. Bernard's work in the parish is recorded in the following statistics. In 1850 the Catholics in Broadway numbered 40, of whom only 14 were practising. By 1857, when Fr. Bernard became Rector of Broadway and relinquished his parochial duties, the Catholics numbered 200, of whom 124 made their Easter Duties that year. The number of children in the school had increased from 76 to 104.
The Broadway School
Source: In Diebus Illis No. 3 (1 August 1977)
As soon as he was appointed Vicar in March 1851, Fr. Bernard set himself to build a school. The new foundation had no resources, and Fr. Bernard determined to provide one "without any expense to the house." (BP) With Bro. John Walsh he begged in the neighbouring villages, but with little success. He eventually borrowed £300 from a Mr. Hanford of Cheltenham, to be repaid in annual instalments of £100.
Even before the money was secured, Fr. Bernard had drawn up the plans and begun building. The Broadway Platea records the opening day:
"On the 16th of May 1851, he collected together every working man in Broadway who could obtain a spade and barrow and use his legs and arms, and in this one day; yea, in less than a day, he broke down and took away the thorn hedge, cleared the way and prepared the ground for the foundations which were commenced on the following day. The first stone was laid by Mr. W. Varley on the 22nd of the same month."
The school was blessed and opened on 8th September 1851. Manning, then making his retreat for Ordination at Broadway, was present at the ceremony. The building was finished in sixteen weeks. After the opening ceremony, "the children with their mothers were regaled with cakes and tea supplied by Fr. Bernard." (BP)
The curriculum was notable for a rural school of the period: reading, writing, spelling, geography, history, grammar, arithmetic, music, map-drawing, and for the girls, sewing and knitting. The school was eventually placed under government inspection on 25th September 1854, with the first capitation grant back-dated to 1855.
In 1857 Fr. Bernard established an Industrial School at Broadway, intended to extend the school term and protect girls from being taken away at the ages of seven to ten to work in the silk mill or in the fields for sixpence a week.
The Countryside Apostolate: Buckland and Childswickham
Fr. Bernard's work was not confined to Broadway itself. In November 1851 he began giving instructions every Monday evening at Buckland, and every Tuesday evening at Childswickham, going by donkey and gig. The opposition he encountered was fierce. The Broadway Platea records:
"He would arrive in Buckland accompanied with jeers, shouts, screams, yells, threats and blasphemies, and thus he drove over to Buckland every Monday evening. Now sometimes the mob tried to overturn the gig, sometimes they put things in its way on the road. Some pelted him with mud, others threw stones at his head, while others were content with merely threatening to kill him some fine day. Indeed, Fr. Bernard found it advisable to form a body-guard of men, women and children to protect his limbs and his donkey."
Fr. Salvian Nardocci records that during one of these journeys a stone thrown from behind a hedge struck Fr. Bernard's sign — the badge worn on his habit — and glanced off to the vacant seat beside him. "Had it struck on his head or any other part of his body, it would have been most serious." (SN)
Despite the violence, Fr. Bernard continued for three months in Buckland and a parallel period at Childswickham. He discontinued the Buckland instructions not out of fear, but out of consideration for his host, Mr. Gibson, whose landlord threatened to evict him if the meetings continued. Among the converts received at Buckland in those three months were Mr. Gibson himself and the parish sexton with his five daughters.
Fr. Bernard's instructions at Childswickham were similarly attended by noise, harassment, and obstacles placed in the road. Yet he persisted, and a number of converts were received there also, among them a certain Noah Carter.
Sources: In Diebus Illis No. 2 (1 July 1977) and No. 3 (1 August 1977), citing the Broadway Platea (1850–1857) and the journal of Fr. Salvian Nardocci.
Documents
Primary documents from the Provincial Archive relating to St Saviour's, Broadway — historical articles, a centenary leaflet, and a press article — are available on the Broadway Documents page.